Charlton Athletic 3 Wycombe Wanderers 2

This should have been so much easier than it turned out to be. Cruising at 2-0 up, the first glaring "error" happened when Llera went off, courtesy of charm merchant Harrold, to have a nasty cut stitched up. It seemed to me that the obvious move would be to drop Semedo, into the centre of defence, but I am not entirely convinced that he went there. Even if you give Parkinson the benefit of the doubt over that one, where on earth was Youga when the Chairboys first goal went in? The same question has to be asked of the same player, when Elliot, Richardson, and Bailey were busy clearing shots off our goal line in the second half. We certainly weren't playing with four at the back, that's for sure. The other defensive failing was that the back line were playing too high. The same problem that allowed them to score their first, was also evident when Wycombe scored their second, albeit that the pass that put Zebroski through was a peach.

The first Wycombe goal tarnished an otherwise blemish free first half, which could easily have seen us go in three or four goals to the good. When Llera scored to put us 3-1 up, the normal order of things seemed to be restored, but then what happened in the last ten minutes of the second half? Let's not kid ourselves here, we could easily have ended up with a draw, which would have been a travesty, particularly after the first 40 minutes of the first half. The reality was that we panicked, with all the old self doubt of last season showing through once more, but for me, the second worst thing about those closing minutes, was that Wycombe were physically fitter and stronger than we were. There can be no excuses for that.

But for me, the worst error was down to Parkinson. Why bring two strikers on for a striker and a winger, who in the case of Sam, was also by some distance, our most effective player? The outcome of that little foible was that we ended up with an unbalanced midfield. Given our position of dominance at the time, I guess he felt it would be safe enough, but the reality was somewhat different, as it encouraged a fitter Wycombe side to press on. If Sam had a problem, why not bring Basey on for Sam, and switch Bailey over to the right side? While Sam was on the pitch, their midfield and defence were constantly pinned back by his antics. With him removed, Charlton were in danger of being overrun. Three points, yes, but a number of concerns as well. I really don't want to be reminded of last season, but towards the end of this game, that is exactly where my mind was being drawn back to.